John D. Anderson, MD FACEP
President, Nevada ACEP
Hello Team Nevada,
Summer has been poking around here in the Reno area, and I hope that you find time to take care of yourself and enjoy the nice weather outside. Thank you for all you do for our patients, our specialty and our state.
Spring has been busy for Nevada ACEP, and I have a few updates to share with you. I just returned from Washington, DC and we had a great turnout of Nevada emergency physicians for the Leadership and Advocacy Conference. Over the course of four days we gained important insight into the current legislative and regulatory issues from around the country and shared our own recent challenges.
We then headed to the hill to meet with our senators and representatives to continue to demonstrate the strong dedication and value of emergency physicians in our state. Two key issues that we discussed with our elected officials were out of network “surprise” billing and improved resources along with funding for mental health care and access from an emergency department perspective. Bills on both topics are being worked on in the Senate and the House with ongoing input from ACEP. The mental health bill titled, “Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department” (S.1334/H.R.2519) was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA), who is also a Board-certified emergency physician, and in the Senate by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). If you would like to contact your Nevada legislators and ask them to support the bill you can do so quickly through ACEP’s 911 network.
Thank you to those that attended and represented Nevada well in Washington.
Please mark you calendars for September 14th. We will have our first ever Nevada ACEP statewide meeting in Reno. The program will include educational sessions as well as a chance to meet with your colleagues from around the state. More information on specifics will follow in the coming months.
Thank you again for all you do and if you want to get more involved with advocacy, the state meeting or in any other capacity with the Nevada ACEP please contact us.
Cheers!